Brussels - Amsterdam

[RogerLH-SW4]

I'm planning a trip to Brussels including a day or two in Amsterdam in February or March.

Have "ordinary" Brussels - Amsterdam though services been reinstated? When I did this last year there were no longer through services and the connections weren't on the timetables.

Again, if I tried a premium service, any advice on best value, advanced booking etc?

RogerLH

 

[317666]

They haven't been re-instated yet, although at weekends trains now continue south from Antwerp to Brussels as they do on weekdays, and I think there's a few more trains per day than there were too. You would have to change at either Rotterdam or Den Haag.

By premium service I presume you mean Thalys, they do offer a few €22 advance fares, my advice with them is to just book as early as possible (up to three months in advance) for the cheapest ticket.

 

[NL Railways]

There is now a regular Intercity train servicy on the classic route from Brussels Midi to The Hague (Den Haag HS), for Amsterdam you change in Rotterdam onto Intercity Direct service cross platform to Amsterdam Centraal which uses the Highspeed line direct to Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam.

You can also change in The Hague for the regular but slower services to Amsterdam via Haarlem. No need to book in advance for the Brussels to Amsterdam for the Intercity service, just buy your ticket at the station and hop on.

 

[cjp]

Are there age related discounts on this route and if so how are they obtained?

 

[NL Railways]

There are under 25 youth tickets available for this train, this is easily obtained at the ticket desk at the station either in Brussels or Amsterdam.

The best deals for adults above 25 are either weekend return tickets, or if you are only travelling, and coming back on the same day there are super day return tickets which are valid after 0900am on weekdays, which are cheaper than standard return tickets which are valid for 2 months.

 

[cjp]

There are under 25 youth tickets available for this train, this is easily obtained at the ticket desk at the station either in Brussels or Amsterdam.

The best deals for adults above 25 are either weekend return tickets, or if you are only travelling, and coming back on the same day there are super day return tickets which are valid after 0900am on weekdays, which are cheaper than standard return tickets which are valid for 2 months.

Thank you.

I am planning my next rrip to Amsterdam to be on the ferry from Harwich and all the different types of trains (and tickets) are somewhat overwhelming

 

[dutchflyer]

Are there age related discounts on this route and if so how are they obtained?

For youth=<26:
BUY online via b-rail.be in 2 steps-you can stay on the very same train:
1.BRU-Roosendaal, as GOPass1, for about 7,50 (=6 eur fixed price+supplmt for the last portion).
Normal single Roosendaal-Amsterdam (or any other NS-station)
Same reverse for return.
2.For seniors=>65:
ditto, but buy Senior return BRU-Rsd, about 9 eur (as its return-but 1 day-you pay 2x the supplmt. for Essen-Rsdaal). No discount for 60+ on NS, Unless you have a yearly senior-discountpass.
3.for anyone in jan. only on sat+sun:
B-rail offers the shoppingreturn-a 1 day return for 9eur between any 2 DOMEstic stations=last one is Essen, thus buy 3 tickets:
this return, a normal single Essen-Roosendaal, then NS as above.
All above tickets can be had as homeprint.
Even in other cases always check both through fare and break in Roosendaal on b-rail, avoid NS-HIspeed, as b-rail accepts any credcd without fuss and NS does not-or if it allows, charges extra and may then tell you that its a real paperticket and has to be sent to a Dutch adress.
PS fastest-except Thalys is MEGAbus-a British concern (Stagecoach) which has 2 daily coaches (coming off Paris) BRU(beside Central station)-Amsterdam in less as 3 hrs, fare from 1 or 5 eur-but mostly 15. Stops in AMS at Camping Zeeburg-a 12 min ride on tram 26 from Centraal, but beside that rather (un)famous camping, which also has cheap chalets. If you are not only train-oriented, you may try this on 1 way to compare.

 

[30907]

Thank you.

I am planning my next rrip to Amsterdam to be on the ferry from Harwich and all the different types of trains (and tickets) are somewhat overwhelming

But if you are simply doing Hoek-Amsterdam (or anywhere else in NL), that's covered by Dutchflyer (the ticket, not our colleague on the forum!).
For the High Speed line there's a couple of Euros supplement and I believe a machine on the platform to pay it.
Thalys trains are not covered but there are only a handful of those.

 

[NL Railways]

Thank you.

I am planning my next rrip to Amsterdam to be on the ferry from Harwich and all the different types of trains (and tickets) are somewhat overwhelming

If you at Amsterdam Centraal station the best way to buy your tickets to Brussels is at the ticket desk, you could use ticket machines as well but not all of them are accepting creditcards, i am not sure if they accepting UK debit cards look for a maestro logo. Those machines have english language button.

The best deal offcourse travelling by ferry from Harwich is the Dutchflyer ticket which combines a rail ticket from London or any Greater Anglia station to any railway station within the Netherlands. http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry-to-holland/rail-and-sail.

 

[radamfi]

If you at Amsterdam Centraal station the best way to buy your tickets to Brussels is at the ticket desk, you could use ticket machines as well but not all of them are accepting creditcards, i am not sure if they accepting UK debit cards look for a maestro logo.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone in the UK has a Maestro card now. Maestro used to be fairly common in the UK (but by no means universal, as many banks have never issued Maestro cards), but almost all banks in the UK have now changed from Maestro to Mastercard debit or Visa debit.

I have thought about opening an account that has a Maestro card specifically for use in the Netherlands. The options (AFAIK) are Clydesdale, Yorkshire Bank, Danske Bank and the new Post Office current account.

Danske Bank is only available to Northern Ireland residents.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank have a high fee for international use.

The Post Office account can only be opened at branches in East Anglia, and soon the East Midlands.

There are prepaid Maestro cards as well, but they also charge high fees.

 

[cjp]

The best deal offcourse travelling by ferry from Harwich is the Dutchflyer ticket which combines a rail ticket from London or any Greater Anglia station to any railway station within the Netherlands. http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry-to-holland/rail-and-sail.

You are right.

I am going to fly to Schipol from Inverness and then get the Dutchflyer back to London.
Just need to sort out my tickets*, book the hotel and find my Museumkaart
*will I need to pay to take a bike on the train & will I be able to upgrade the flyer ticket to the faster trains -Intercity?? - by buying a supplement ?

 

[30907]

You are right.

I am going to fly to Schipol from Inverness and then get the Dutchflyer back to London.
Just need to sort out my tickets*, book the hotel and find my Museumkaart
*will I need to pay to take a bike on the train & will I be able to upgrade the flyer ticket to the faster trains -Intercity?? - by buying a supplement ?

Read the section on Seat61 about buying Dutchflyer one-way FROM NL - seems you can only get the NS train included if you have a NL postal address.
http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm#Fares

Bikes - allowed off-peak only, small charge (unless it's folding)
Intercity Direct (the high speed one) supplement EUR 2.30

 

[317666]

While this thread is still running I'll just tack on this question, if I may...

Am I right in saying that, with a BeNeLux Interrail, no supplement is required on the Brussels - Den Haag InterCity trains? The InterRail website only shows details for Fyra, which is now out of date.

 

[NL Railways]

You are right.

I am going to fly to Schipol from Inverness and then get the Dutchflyer back to London.
Just need to sort out my tickets*, book the hotel and find my Museumkaart
*will I need to pay to take a bike on the train & will I be able to upgrade the flyer ticket to the faster trains -Intercity?? - by buying a supplement ?

dutchflyer is valid on normal Intercity trains via The Hague to Amsterdam, and you pay a supplement to take your bike outside peak hours during peak hours, it is not allowed to take your bike within peak hours.

Your are not allowed to take your bike at all on the Intercity Direct train from Breda- Rotterdam - Schiphol to Amsterdam on the highspeed line.
Bicycle Day Travel Card € 6, irrespective of destination.

Read the section on Seat61 about buying Dutchflyer one-way FROM NL - seems you can only get the NS train included if you have a NL postal address.
http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm#Fares

Is it not possible to purchase a dutchflyer ticket from the UK stenaline website one way from Amsterdam?

Am I right in saying that, with a BeNeLux Interrail, no supplement is required on the Brussels - Den Haag InterCity trains? The InterRail website only shows details for Fyra, which is now out of date.

Thats right because this Intercity service is continuation of the former Benelux train Amsterdam to Brussels. You are allowed at least with a normal international ticket from Belgium to use the highspeed line without a supplement, only domestic journeys from Rotterdam to Schiphol requires a supplement. I don´t know the rules for InterRail this year

 

[Greenback]

Is it not possible to purchase a dutchflyer ticket from the UK stenaline website one way from Amsterdam?

I don't think it is. I had to use the Dutch site to buy tickets back on a one way journey a couple of years ago. I got a refund on them from the check in desk at Hoek, but there is no mention of such a refund now on seat61.

 

[NL Railways]

I am living in The Netherlands so if anyone need a dutch adress I can help and The Hague is on the way to Amsterdam. If anyone is interested please send a PM and we can sort something out.

 

[tripleseis]

If you at Amsterdam Centraal station the best way to buy your tickets to Brussels is at the ticket desk, you could use ticket machines as well but not all of them are accepting creditcards, i am not sure if they accepting UK debit cards look for a maestro logo. Those machines have english language button.

We didn't have a problem using my Visa card when buying NS tickets from the ticket machines in Schiphol last year. I think all of them there now accept foreign cards (probably to cut staffing costs and the inevitable queues for tickets to Centraal station). Not sure about the other stations but I imagine they will all be converted to accept all cards at some point.

 

[radamfi]

We didn't have a problem using my Visa card when buying NS tickets from the ticket machines in Schiphol last year. I think all of them there now accept foreign cards (probably to cut staffing costs and the inevitable queues for tickets to Centraal station). Not sure about the other stations but I imagine they will all be converted to accept all cards at some point.

Schiphol and Amsterdam Centraal (and maybe a few other major stations) have accepted credit cards for years, as there are a lot of tourists there, although there is an extra fee for using Visa/Mastercard. So they have had plenty of time to extend that to other stations but they choose not to.

 

[cjp]

For youth=<26:
BUY online via b-rail.be in 2 steps-you can stay on the very same train:
1.BRU-Roosendaal, as GOPass1, for about 7,50 (=6 eur fixed price+supplmt for the last portion).
Normal single Roosendaal-Amsterdam (or any other NS-station)
Same reverse for return.
2.For seniors=>65:
ditto, but buy Senior return BRU-Rsd, about 9 eur (as its return-but 1 day-you pay 2x the supplmt. for Essen-Rsdaal). No discount for 60+ on NS, Unless you have a yearly senior-discountpass.

Similar to the UK - one has to buy a Senior Railcard each year
which cost £30.

I did try to buy an personalised OV-chipkaart from their web site but they refuse to send outside the country - see this thread http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89471.
Annoying - to be polite about it.

 

[EWS 58038]

The best deals for adults above 25 are either weekend return tickets, or if you are only travelling, and coming back on the same day there are super day return tickets which are valid after 0900am on weekdays, which are cheaper than standard return tickets which are valid for 2 months.

Wrong....

1 month.